SAT OG 2016 Reading - Test 1 reading 1

Questions 1-10 are based on the following
passage.


This passage is from Lydia Minatoya, The Strangeness of Beauty.©1999 by Lydia Minatoya. The setting is Japan in 1920. Chie and her daughter Naomi are members of the House of Fuji, a noble family.

Akira came directly, breaking all tradition. Was

that it? Had he followed form—had he asked his

mother to speak to his father to approach a
go-between—would Chie have been more receptive?
5 He came on a winter’s eve. He pounded on the

door while a cold rain beat on the shuttered veranda,

so at first Chie thought him only the wind. The maid

knew better. Chie heard her soft scuttling footsteps,

the creak of the door. Then the maid brought a
10 calling card to the drawing room, for Chie.
Chie was reluctant to go to her guest; perhaps she

was feeling too cozy. She and Naomi were reading at

a low table set atop a charcoal brazier. A thick quilt

spread over the sides of the table so their legs were
15 tucked inside with the heat.
“Who is it at this hour, in this weather?” Chie

questioned as she picked the name card off the

maid’s lacquer tray.
“Shinoda, Akira. Kobe Dental College,” she read.
20 Naomi recognized the name. Chie heard a soft

intake of air.
“I think you should go,” said Naomi.
Akira was waiting in the entry. He was in his early

twenties, slim and serious, wearing the black
25 military-style uniform of a student. As he

bowed—his hands hanging straight down, a

black cap in one, a yellow oil-paper umbrella in

the other—Chie glanced beyond him. In the glistening

surface of the courtyard’s rain-drenched paving
30 stones, she saw his reflection like a dark double.
“Madame,” said Akira, “forgive my disruption,

but I come with a matter of urgency.”
His voice was soft, refined. He straightened and

stole a deferential peek at her face.
35 In the dim light his eyes shone with sincerity.

Chie felt herself starting to like him.
“Come inside, get out of this nasty night. Surely

your business can wait for a moment or two.”
“I don’t want to trouble you. Normally I would
40 approach you more properly but I’ve received word of a

position. I’ve an opportunity to go to America, as

dentist for Seattle’s Japanese community.”
“Congratulations,” Chie said with amusement.

“That is an opportunity, I’m sure. But how am I
45 involved?”
Even noting Naomi’s breathless reaction to the

name card, Chie had no idea. Akira’s message,

delivered like a formal speech, filled her with

maternal amusement. You know how children speak
50 so earnestly, so hurriedly, so endearingly about

things that have no importance in an adult’s mind?

That’s how she viewed him, as a child.
It was how she viewed Naomi. Even though

Naomi was eighteen and training endlessly in the arts
55 needed to make a good marriage, Chie had made no

effort to find her a husband.
Akira blushed.
“Depending on your response, I may stay in

Japan. I’ve come to ask for Naomi’s hand.”
60 Suddenly Chie felt the dampness of the night.
“Does Naomi know anything of your...

ambitions?”
“We have an understanding. Please don’t judge

my candidacy by the unseemliness of this proposal. I
65 ask directly because the use of a go-between takes

much time. Either method comes down to the same

thing: a matter of parental approval. If you give your

consent, I become Naomi’s yoshi.* We’ll live in the

House of Fuji. Without your consent, I must go to
70 America, to secure a new home for my bride.”
Eager to make his point, he’d been looking her full

in the face. Abruptly, his voice turned gentle. “I see

I’ve startled you. My humble apologies. I’ll take no

more of your evening. My address is on my card. If
75 you don’t wish to contact me, I’ll reapproach you in

two weeks’ time. Until then, good night.”
He bowed and left. Taking her ease, with effortless

grace, like a cat making off with a fish.
“Mother?” Chie heard Naomi’s low voice and
80 turned from the door. “He has asked you?”
The sight of Naomi’s clear eyes, her dark brows

gave Chie strength. Maybe his hopes were

preposterous.
“Where did you meet such a fellow? Imagine! He
85 thinks he can marry the Fuji heir and take her to

America all in the snap of his fingers!”
Chie waited for Naomi’s ripe laughter.
Naomi was silent. She stood a full half minute

looking straight into Chie’s eyes. Finally, she spoke.
90 “I met him at my literary meeting.”
Naomi turned to go back into the house, then

stopped.
“Mother.”
“Yes?”
95 “I mean to have him.”

*a man who marries a woman of higher status and takes her family’s name

Question 1 Which choice best describes what happens in the passage?